Resolving a Conflict and Paying a Staggering Fee in Medieval England

The new abbot had to find a way to prevent his lands from being taken by bloodthirsty knights. So, they came up with a middle school-like plan of passing notes through an intermediary to resolve the conflict. In the end, the abbot had to pay a hefty fee of 40 marks of gold to secure his estates from the monastery. This penalty amounted to about 240 pounds, which is an enormous amount of money.